The Landlady
Roald Dahl
P. 71
{Make the Connection}
1. Read the paragraph 2. Complete the diagram
{Literary Focus/Key Word}
3. Define: FORESHADOWING
# Hints or clues as to what will happen later #
{Reading Skills: Making Predications}
4. Take notes on predicting
Predicting – GUESSING
Ways you use predicting:
-What has already happened
-Clues from the writer
-Similar events in other stories
-Movies that I’ve seen
P. 72
NOTES
Vocabulary: {Define}
Congenial p. 73
Tantalize p. 78
Rapacious p.73
Emanate p.79
Characters}: {Fill in the chart}
Billy Weaver The Landlady
-17 years old
-In town for business
-Ready for Billy; rang the
bell and out she popped
(like she was waiting)
-“Exactly right” according -45 to 50 years old, little
to landlady
-“Very welcoming,
-Feels lucky to have
terribly nice, harmless
found this place
and generous soul”
-Tall, young and
-“Slightly dotty”
handsome (just like other
guests)
-Choosy and particular;
always ready for
-“Perfect age, the most
someone who is “exactly
beautiful teeth”
right”
-Keeps calling Billy by
the wrong last name
-Interrupts/changes
subject when Billy is
about to recognize the
other guests
-Keeps pushing the
tea…watching him
-Peculiar smell: pickled
walnuts? New leather?
B&B
-Appears very cozy and
welcoming (fire, animals,
etc.)
-“Fantastically cheap”
-No other guests
-Sign the guestbook (law
of the land)
-Dog still sleeping??
-Only two entries in the
guestbook: Christopher
Mulholland & Gregory
Temple (very familiar?)
-Last entry is over two
years old…and the one
before that is a year
before
-Mulholland and Temple
are still there…on the 4th
floor (WHAT!!)
-Parrot and dog are NOT
ALIVE! (“Perfectly
preserved”)
-Tea tasted faintly of
Hospital corridor?
bitter almonds
-Talks in great detail
about physical
characteristics of
Mulholland and Temple
-Any other guests except
Mulholland and Temple
in the last few years...
“No, my dear, only you.”
-“Stuff all my pets when
they pass away”
-Looks up the name of
guests when she forgets
(almost every day)
Setting:
Time: 9pm/evening/past
Place: Bath/Bed & Breakfast
Questions: {Answer}
1. Billy overlooks dangers that are quite
obvious to the reader. What he finds in the
landlady’s house does not arouse his
suspicions. What clues does he ignore?
The clues that Billy ignores are…
2. Potassium cyanide, which is extremely
poisonous, is known for its faint, bitter
almond taste. This is what Billy tastes in the
landlady’s tea. List as many clues as you can
that indicate what Billy’s fate is to be.
The clues that indicate Billy’s fate are…
Summary:
BILLY WEAVER was looking for an inexpensive place to
stay. His desire for a BED and BREAKFAST first catches
Billy’s eye. When he looks inside, he sees a bright FIRE, a
baby grand piano, a big sofa, and comfortable
ARMCHAIRS. He believes the dog and parrot to be signs
of warmth and hospitality.
The PARROT and DOG turn out to be stuffed animals,
opposite of Billy’s first thoughts. What he finds in the
BOARDING house does not arouse his SUSPICIONS. He
ignores all the SIGNS, like the peculiar smell and the
bitter TASTE of the tea. Billy thinks the LANDLADY is
“slightly dotty”, but harmless.
The tea really contains POTASSIUM CYANIDE, a poison.
Billy joins the other DEAD GUESTS, Christopher
Mulholland and Gregory Temple who have never left the
BOARDINGHOUSE because she killed and stuffed them,
like her other pets.
{HOMEWORK}
COMPLETE ON SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER!
YOU WILL TURN THIS IN 
Letter:
Pretend you are Billy and you are staying in the bed and
breakfast. As you go up to bed after tea, you decide to write a
letter to a friend or relative expressing your growing concern
that something is not right with your situation.
In your letter, include FIVE clues (examples of foreshadowing)
that are making you nervous about staying in the bed and
breakfast. Express your concerns, but do not change the plot.
You cannot, for example, throw the tea in the landlady’s face
and make a run for it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------Dear Mom,
I am staying at the Bed & Breakfast in Bath.
The Landlady seems terribly nice, however there
are some things that just don’t feel quite right.